Crime Prevention System in the USSR: A Relic of the Past or a Model of the Future?

Abstract

The current geopolitical situation in the world dictates the need to find new approaches in the field of countering global external and internal risks. Often such a search leads to the expediency of returning to social practices that have already been implemented and have proven their viability: if not a complete reverse, then the use of the most useful social tools that are maximally applicable in domestic conditions. Crime has always been one of the main internal threats to national security. In this regard, a retrospective study of the means and methods used to counter crime is not only interesting, but also practically useful. The experience of legal regulation and practical implementation of the crime prevention system in the USSR has both advantages and disadvantages. The identification of positive aspects, the identification of effective tools that could be used in the process of improving the currently existing crime prevention system in Russia, could make it possible to build the most effective promising model of counter-criminal activity at the present stage. The appeal to the crime prevention system in the USSR is due to the special significance of this period of national statehood, marked by significant historical events that demonstrated the role of the state in ensuring security, respect for human and civil rights and freedoms, including those who violated the law. During the Soviet period, special attention was given to the penitentiary and post-penitentiary period of the re-socialization of convicts, the provision of correctional and educational influence on them, a real system of preventing recidivism was built. Modern studies of such experience are actualized in connection with the organization of the probation system in the Russian Federation as a set of measures, functions and powers of the relevant entities assisting convicts who find themselves in a difficult life situation, which is ultimately aimed at preventing crimes.